Executive MBA Team Among Finalists in Australia Global Business Challenge

Executive MBA Team Among Finalists in Australia Global Business Challenge

Gregg Bass

EMBA team members (L-R) Buckner,

Soriano, Markert and Namkung.

Four Auburn Executive MBA (EMBA) alumni are among seven finalist teams in Queensland, Australia, this week
to compete in an international graduate case competition addressing major global issues.

EMBA Class of 2017 alumni competing are Zarcar Buckner, Helotes, Texas; Johnathan
Markert, Houston, Texas; Terry Namkung, Hampton, Va.; and Alex Soriano, Atlanta; will
compete in the Global Business Challenge (GBC) hosted by Griffith University and organized by the Queensland University of
Technology (QUT) Graduate Business School.

The GBC focuses on delivering practical solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
The GBC theme this year is renewable energy, with teams being challenged to develop
solutions that lower the costs and risks associated with the transition from fossil
fuel based energy to achieving sustainable renewable energy sources. In previous years,
the challenge focused on themes such as health, food and water.

The challenge, which starts today and runs through Thursday, draws postgraduate students
from business and technology disciplines from around the world to compete for $125,000
in cash prizes plus funding support for viable business solutions.

To qualify for the finals, teams competed in a virtual round to pitch a conceptual
business solution comprising a combination of new technologies and business models.
Winners of this first round were announced in August.

The Auburn EMBA team is among seven teams selected to compete in the finals, where
they will be required to develop a business case for a hypothetical project opportunity,
which addresses constraints similar to each team’s proposed solution and reflecting
real-world issues. Finalists will present to judging panel of CEOs and leaders across
industry, government and finance sectors. The winning team will be named Thursday.

The solution presented by the Auburn EMBA team centers upon a low-voltage electronic
power distribution panel that efficiently converts solar and commercial power (110
and 220-volt AC) to low-voltage power (24-volt DC) that can drive electronic equipment,
such as laptops, computers televisions and LED lights, efficiently with no energy
loss. The idea incorporates old and new technology for a smooth transition from AC
to DC. This power distribution panel is patented by the company headed by team member
Namkung, DC Energy Systems.

Namkung presented this solution earlier this year in the Rice Business Plan Competition
at Rice University in Houston. This graduate case competition, much like the Global
Business Challenge, gave collegiate entrepreneurs the chance to compete for funding
to commercial their products.

Other U.S. finalist teams are from the University of Arizona and MIT. Click here for a complete list of finalists.

The GBC objective is to leverage the exceptional intellectual talent from the world’s
top business schools and universities to formulate business solutions for globally
relevant and contemporary ‘wicked’ problems with global significance. Solutions consist
of a combination of new and emerging technologies, as well as novel business models
to support commercialization and global adoption of these solutions.

The Auburn EMBA team is accompanied by Lou Bifano, EMBA Class of 2015, director of
Entrepreneurship strategy with the Auburn University’s Raymond J. Harbert College
of Business.

About Auburn MBA

Housed within the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn MBA Programs serve
more than 580 MBA candidates and an alumni network that is more than 5,000 strong. Auburn
offers one MBA degree across three delivery models, allowing students to choose the
program that best accommodates their professional and personal demands. In addition
to the Online and Full-Time MBA, an executive format option is also available, including
one for physicians only. For more information, visit harbert.auburn.edu.